On the final day of the Lancaster Environment Centre’s annual trip to Doñana National Park in southern Spain, Professor Nigel Paul reflects on how field work has changed in the past 60 years, and on the future challenges facing a new generation of ecologists and biologists

On the sixth day of their field course, Professor Nigel Paul describes how the students leave the Doñana National Park in southern Spain and head for the city of Sevilla, learning about the perils of invasive species en route.

After three solid days in the field around Doñana National Park in southern Spain, this is the day when the students write-up one of their field days as a poster. It gives Professor Nigel Paul some time to think about the challenges of conservation, and to identify some of the highlights of trip.

Smells, sunshine, sea and plenty of insects characterised the last day students spent in the forests of Doñana National Park in southern Spain, explains plant biologist, Professor Nigel Paul, from the Lancaster Environment Centre.

On the third day of the Lancaster Environment Centre’s annual field trip to the Doñana National Park in southern Spain, the students had a rare sighting and witnessed the ball control skills of dung beetles. Professor Nigel Paul explains.

In the second of his blogs about the Lancaster Environment Centre’s annual trip to Doñana National Park in southern Spain, Professor Nigel Paul tells how the first year students got a real taste of life as a field ecologist.

Bee-eaters, booted eagles and wild boar were among the sightings at the start of Lancaster Environment Centre’s annual field course to Southern Spain. In the first of a series of blogs, Professor Nigel Paul recalls what is so special about these yearly visits.

Conversations with experts and local children, field observations and beautiful views, good food and company, offered a multitude of perspectives during a fascinating field trip to Istria, according to third year Geography student Jamie Quinlan.